For more than 130 years, the Wilson family has worked the same ground near Chief Timothy. Today, Erik Wilson runs the ranch in partnership with his sister, Colleene, as the fourth generation to carry it forward. It’s a place best known around the valley for pumpkins and cider, but that reputation is really just the latest chapter in their everchanging story. The ranch’s roots go back to 1887, when Erik’s great-great-grandfather squatted near a cave and spring by Chief Timothy, panning and mining for gold. It was hard living and he was barely getting by. Not long after, he managed to buy out the squatter’s rights to the nearby land that would eventually become the ranch. When homesteading rights opened up, the family put down roots for good.
If there’s a theme running through Wilson Banner Ranch’s history, it’s adaptability. The land has always been productive, it’s just never grown the same thing for long. In Erik’s great-grandfather’s era, tomatoes were the big deal. By his grandfather’s time, as irrigation systems improved, alfalfa took over as the primary crop. When Erik’s dad and uncles were running the operation, orchards became the focus, with major plantings going in during the late 1960s. Sweet corn was also in the picture by this point. Today, the ranch grows pumpkins, apples, cherries, peaches, pears, and other tree fruits, alongside truck garden vegetables like sweet corn. And of course, there’s the cider, pressed at the ranch for as long as anyone can remember.
We asked Erik why he’s so committed to local food, and the answer was simple: he likes to eat, and he likes to eat good stuff. And he wasn’t just talking about his own food, he was quick to point out the quality of what other regional producers grow, too. Walla Walla, he says, grows the best onions around, so he’ll trade cherries for onions rather than try to grow something someone else already does well. That practicality also shows up in how the ranch sells its food. Staffing a farm stand hasn’t been sustainable, and getting into big grocery chains has proven tough. Instead, the ranch’s produce primarily shows up at Rick’s Family Foods and A&B Foods.
Wilson Banner Ranch is starting small with Happy Day Local, offering sweet corn first while they figure out how much they can take on with the resources they have. Apple cider is next on deck, and down the road, Erik hopes to bring peppers and other crops into the mix as things grow. For now, customers can find what’s available seasonally and weekly, depending on what’s coming out of the fields. The ranch is typically open weekends in October, and otherwise operates by appointment, with Facebook being the best way to reach them.
